Green investment for Singapore

Singapore has been welcoming an influx of non-governmental environmental organisations wishing to set up shop in the island city state. Various factors have been cited for this benign invasion, including the availability of office space, the key amenities to hand and the fact that funding is being offered.

Amongst the outfits being attracted to the Singapore market are the global conservation partnership BirdLife Inernational and Fauna & Flora International. In taking advantage of Singapore's green welcome mat, these groups are joining the prestigious list of organisations already enjoying Singaporean patronage, such as Conservation International, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Although all of these groups still face a daunting array of challenges, not least in persuading Singaporeans of the importance of environmental issues, what these organisations can certainly count upon is government support. Back in 2007 the Singapore government instigated a formal program aimed at enticing global environmental organisations to invest in the area.

The International Organisations Programme Office was set up at the Economic Development Board, primarily to keep non-government organisations informed about the generous opportunities available in Singapore.

The Board's assistant managing director, Quek Swee Kuan, pointed out that, until fairly recently, Singapore had not regularly shown up on the radar for environmental bodies seeking to expand their global platform. There were several reasons for this, not least the fact that the bulk of their beneficiaries were situated in other locations.

The World Wide Fund for Nature was the only notable exception to this trend. However, since the government became far more proactive in explaining the benefits of the Singapore market, this situation had altered radically.

A combination of government grants and tax incentives had sent out messages that, environmentally speaking, Singapore is very much open for business and investment. The World Wide Fund received help in becoming registered as a charity.

Tanglin International Centre opened as a dedicated environment for non-profit outfits operating in Singapore, with both the World Wide Fund and Wildlife Conservation Society enjoying the excellent facilities available. The Economic Development Board has set itself a target of attracting 150 such organisations to Singapore by 2015. There will be obvious benefits to Singapore money; not least in the creation of a potential 2500-3000 new jobs.

APAC urged to reduce nontariff barriers

The Asia-Pacific countries should reduce nontariff trade barriers and focus on strengthening regional connectivity to facilitate trade within the region, concluded participants at an international conference.

The conference –Asia Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum 2012- was co-organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Colombo by the end of October.

Senior minister of the International Monetary Cooperation of Sri Lanka, Sarath Amunugama, proposed in his inaugural address, developing and increasing regional connectivity to maximise trade within the Asia Pacific region given the on-going economic slowdown in Europe and the U.S.

The opening ceremony was also addressed by Mahbubur Rahman, President of the International Chamber of Commerce of Bangladesh (ICCB), who focused on e-trade for SME (small and medium enterprises) integration in regional or global value chains.

In addition, Rahman made an observation on the efforts of the UNESCAP and the ADB in supporting paperless trade for the prospective SMEs using IT and other electronic devices. Since many of these seldom keep records, transact business informally and are not ordinary users of IT, he stated that it would not be sensible to promote paperless trade for them. Instead, he suggested improving their environments so they can graduate to being SMEs with formal records, systems and IT facilities. He pledged to be cautious and ensure security in paperless trading as it involved trillions of dollars of business transactions.

In addition, Rahman made an observation on the efforts of the UNESCAP and the ADB in supporting paperless trade for the prospective SMEs using IT and other electronic devices. Since many of these seldom keep records, transact business informally and are not ordinary users of IT, he stated that it would not be sensible to promote paperless trade for them. Instead, he suggested improving their environments so they can graduate to being SMEs with formal records, systems and IT facilities. He pledged to be cautious and ensure security in paperless trading as it involved trillions of dollars of business transactions.

The forum was attended by more than 200 government officials, traders, public and private service providers, leaders from central Asia, South and Southeast and East Asia plus the South Pacific.

STB Launches Tender for Creative, Media, Digital and Digital Production Agency Partners

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) launched an open tender exercise for creative, media, digital and digital production agencies to join efforts with STB in building destination brand. The appointment consists of a two year contract which would take effect on April 2013, allowing the option to extend the agreement for another two years depending on performance.

In the past year, STB has steered its marketing strategy towards a consumer-centric approach, developing market-specific schemes and campaigns to address the evolving needs of consumers from Singapore's key tourism markets.

In essence, the goal of STB with this initiative is to attract agencies who can deliver solutions based on in-depth market knowledge and consumer understanding, have proven track records in building global brands, enjoy a strong network and presence in STB's key markets, and are committed to develop a reciprocally favorable long-term partnership with STB.

"We have deepened our understanding of consumers in our key markets, allowing us to develop relevant and appealing campaigns according to the needs of our visitors. Partnering strong creative, media, digital and digital production agencies will thus enable us to continue this emphasis on visitor-centricity in our marketing efforts," said Sophia Ng, Assistant Chief Executive, Marketing Group of the Singapore Tourism Board. "We see this as a partnership; beyond planning and executing campaigns, we want to work with agencies in building a strong Singapore destination brand."

STB's binding agencies are: creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), digital agency XM Asia (XM), and media agency Mediaedge: cia (MEC). All of them are allotted on a two + two basis with contracts that conclude in March 2013. They can also take part in the tender exercise.

Wealth down, but Singaporeans are still among the richest

Singaporeans figure as the world's eighth richest while the number of millionaires living in the country is expected to rise some 60% to 249,000 over the next five years, informed The Business Times.

Despite the fact that the city-state's total wealth this year slipped by 2.5% or US$25 billion (S$30.76 billion) to US$1 trillion (S$1.23 trillion), Singapore continues to be the third richest in Asia and eighth globally, a recent Credit Suisse wealth shows.

However, Singapore has experienced a drop in comparison to last year when it ranked second behind Australia and was the fifth wealthiest at a global scale.

This fall is allegedly due principally to a decline in household financial assets measured in US dollars. The study defines household wealth as all assets –physical, property and financial – minus debt.

During the time studied, the Singapore dollar went down 4.3% and domestic stock market capitalisation fell by 8.2%, at the time home prices increased 2%. As well, the number of millionaires in Singapore fell by 9% to 156,000 from 165,000.

However, this hold-up is circumstantial as Credit Suisse predicts that in the next five years, Singapore millionaires will soar over 60% to 249,000 as a result of positive forecasts and on-going wealth growth.

"Singapore is a well-managed economy with high savings rate, and we are confident that the conduct of economic and exchange rate policy would sustain medium-term economic growth," said Chew Soon Gek, Head of Strategy and Economic Research, Private Banking Asia Pacific at Credit Suisse.